Parcheesi: Aristocratic gambit or children's game?

The history, math and strategy behind the board game Parcheesi -- often thought of as a children's pastime in the West -- have earned it royal renown for centuries. Test your knowledge of this perennially popular game with our Parcheesi quiz.

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Question 1 of 20

Parcheesi is a member of a group of games named for the shape of their boards. What are these types of games called?

racetrack games

maze-shaped games

cross-and-circle games

Parcheesi boards are traditionally shaped as a cross or a plus sign, with circles in each quadrant created by the cross (or a circular movement of play around the board). Games that use this shape are known as cross-and-circle games.

Question 2 of 20

Which country has adopted Parcheesi as its official game?

Sri Lanka

India

Parcheesi has its origins in India, where it's known as Pachisi; while you may not have known that countries even have official board games, India has granted Pachisi that honor.

Tibet

Question 3 of 20

How many players can play Parcheesi?

between one and four

between two and four

It's a competitive game, so one person can't play Parcheesi alone, but the game can accommodate up to four players at a time -- one for each arm of the cross-shaped board.

only two

Question 4 of 20

Modern Parcheesi sets use the familiar black-pipped white dice. What objects did traditional sets use instead?

shells or carved wood

Classically, Pachisi players used either three long, four-sided wooden dice or six two-sided cowrie shells as dice.

small carved stones

dried berries

Question 5 of 20

Each player is assigned a home row -- one arm of the cross-shaped figure -- in addition to a home circle. How is this assignment given?

The player who rolls the highest number gets to choose her home row.

Players are assigned home rows that match the color of their pawns.

This part of Parcheesi is easy: Players are assigned the home row that matches the color of their pawns. If they're not color coordinated, that'll be the row to the left of the player's home circle.

Players physically race to the board and are assigned rows based on how quickly they get there.

Question 6 of 20

Players pieces don't start directly on the board in Parcheesi. What do they need to do to move a piece onto the board?

roll a higher number than the opponent to the left

roll doubles

roll a five on at least one die

To begin the game, all of a player's pawns begin in her home circle. In order to move each pawn to the board, the player must roll a five on at least one die.

Question 7 of 20

When do historians believe Parcheesi's ancestor, Pachisi, was first played?

around the 17th century A.D.

around 300 B.C.

around the 4th century A.D.

Pachisi's roots reach way back through history -- so far that historians have trouble pinpointing exactly when the game first came into being. However, most speculate that it dates back to around the 4th century A.D.

Question 8 of 20

What older and more complicated game was Pachisi based on?

Chauapar

Chauapar, an ancestor (or, perhaps, older sibling) of Pachisi, was played by Indian royalty and considered a very aristocratic game.

Patchouli

Pachis

Question 9 of 20

How did one Indian emperor take advantage of his aristocratic status while playing Chaupar?

He used expensive bottles of alcohol in place of the traditional wooden pawns.

He paid off his opponents to always let him win.

He played a life-sized game of with fellow aristocrats, using beautiful women from his harem as the pawns.

Emperor Akbar of India literally played games with his subjects: One of his pastimes involved playing life-sized versions of games like Chaupar and using his slaves and harem girls as pawns.

Question 10 of 20

In which of India's famous epics does Chaupar play a role?

the Ramayana

the Mahabharata

In the Mahabharata, the character Shakuni defeats his enemy, Yudhisthira, in a game of Chaupar. Who needs weapons when you have board games?

both a and b

Question 11 of 20

Where does the name Pachisi come from?

The Hindi word for 25 is "pachis," which was an important number in an early version of the game.

When Pachisi developed, it used cowrie shells instead of printed dice, and moves were calculated by the number of shells that landed with their open sides facing up. If no shells landed open-side up, the player was allowed to move 25 (pachis) spaces.

In China, the game was thought to center a person's chi, or life-force.

Early rules called for players to yell out the nonsense word "pachisi" when a pawn entered the finishing circle.

Question 12 of 20

Pachisi didn't just stay in India. Where did it travel first?

England and Europe

Still called Pachisi at the time, the game migrated west to England and Europe in the 1860s. In England, it was developed into a simpler game called Ludo, which was geared primarily toward children.

China

Africa

Question 13 of 20

The English derivation of Parcheesi is called Ludo. Where did that name come from?

the Indian word for "shell game"

the Latin translation of "I play"

Although Ludo is an English game, its name is actually a direct Latin translation of the phrase "I play."

a French phrase meaning "roll the dice"

Question 14 of 20

Parcheesi was the most popular game in America until 1935. Which board game giant outsold it?

Scrabble

Trivial Pursuit

Monopoly

When Monopoly entered the American game scene in 1935, Parcheesi couldn't quite compete. Although it's not at the top of the heap anymore, Parcheesi still remains one of America's most popular games.

Question 15 of 20

Parcheesi can also be used as an educational tool. What is one major skill that the game can be used to teach?

math (probability)

Math can be used to great effect in Parcheesi, primarily in the form of probability: As New York professor Karen Bell discovered, the concepts of probability associated with rolling dice offers innovative teaching opportunities as well as advantages to players who use them effectively.

science (chemistry)

spelling (Parcheesi is a tricky one!)

Question 16 of 20

Pachisi made it across the ocean to America in the 1890s. What significant change occurred upon that migration?

It was played every night before dinner in the McKinley White House.

It was sold as a companion product to Swiss cheese.

It was renamed from Pachisi to Parcheesi.

The game didn't actually take the name Parcheesi until it came to America in the late 19th century.

Question 17 of 20

Parcheesi became immensely popular when it traveled to America, so it's not too surprising that the rights were snapped up by a few different entities in succession. As a result, any imitators had to be creative when naming their versions of the game. Which of these has been used as a name for the game?

The Near East

Not-Parcheesi

The Game of India

You can copyright a name but not a centuries-old game: Milton Bradley makes a version of Parcheesi called "The Game of India" that plays the exact same way.

Question 18 of 20

Parcheesi and Pachisi are similar in many ways, but there's one major difference in how play occurs. What is it?

Pachisi imposes a time limit for each move.

Parcheesi is played with individual players, while Pachisi is played in teams.

Pachisi is played in two teams of two players as opposed to two or more individual players. This forces a player to look out for his teammate's interests as well as his own, thereby adding another level of strategy to the game.

Parcheesi allows players to choose whether to move in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction.

Question 19 of 20

Parcheesi is the basis for several popular American games. Which of these is one of them?

Mousetrap

Chutes and Ladders

Sorry!

Parcheesi exists in many forms and under many names around the globe, including Sorry! -- others include Pig-a-Back in the U.K., Twenty-Five in Asia, and Der Weg zur Herbege in Germany.

Question 20 of 20

Many variations of Pachisi weave a theme into the game. Where do historians believe this practice began?

Germany

Germany's variation on Pachisi, Der Weg zur Herbege (The Way to the Inn) emerged in the mid-1800s and was framed as a traveler's journey to shelter. France later developed Petits Chevaux (Little Horses) with a horse-racing theme.